By Robbin Laird A September 2026of digital storytelling from The Conversation, built by researchers at the University of Sydney and the National University of Singapore’s Centre of Maritime Studies, traced the life of a single tanker called New Konk. Built in Japan in 1991 as an unremarkable cargo vessel, it…
By Robbin Laird I came to the Coast Guard through an unusual door. In the late 1990s I was working with a maritime security company focused on port vulnerabilities, and the observation that shaped everything that followed was straightforward: bad actors could reach into the commercial technology market far more…
I arrived at the Pentagon on the morning of September 11th, 2001, expecting a routine meeting on post-Soviet nuclear security issues. Within hours, the world had changed. So had the trajectory of American defense analysis. For those of us who felt the building rock that morning, September 11th is not…
By Pasquale Preziosa The deployment of additional U.S. troops to the Gulf signals not only a possible military escalation. Above all, it reveals a deeper transformation: contemporary warfare no longer follows the logic of short campaigns and decisive victories, but rather that of duration, permanent competition, and the political-narrative construction…
By Robbin Laird On February 11, 2026, Allied Command Operations (ACO), which is responsible for the planning and execution of all NATO exercises, activities and operations, noted that they began Arctic Sentry. The multi-domain activity will further strengthen NATO’s posture in the Arctic and High North as persistent NATO presence…
By Richard Weitz Threats to the U.S. homeland will remain elevated into 2024. The Gaza War will likely inspire transnational terrorism, the Strategic Posture Commission highlights the expanding long-range missile arsenal of America’s adversaries, and further severe weather emergencies and cyber attacks against critical U.S. networks seem likely. U.S. policy…
By Pierre Tran Paris – A parliamentary report on counter-drone systems is due to appear this month, pointing up shortfalls in the military Parade program, critical for the 2024 Olympic Games in the French capital, senator Cédric Pérrin said Dec. 14, 2023. “I take the view that our anti-drone campaign,…
By Robbin Laird During my September 2022 visit to Australia, I had a chance to talk with Robert Dane, the CEO of Ocius, about the way ahead for maritime autonomous systems in both defence and security missions for the Australian forces. In 1996, Robert Dane, a passionate sailor and environmentalist,…
